Manuscripts by Subject - Military - #10895

Title: Howard R. Huston

Dates: 1917-1955

Collection Number: MSS 10895

Quantity: .25 cubic feet Abstract: Includes letters, postcards, an oratory, and newspaper clippings of Howard Huston. February 7, 2007 accession consists of 31 photographs and 5 postcards of Huston's deployment to London and France during WWI. Photographs have typewritten descriptions by Huston of the landscape, cemeteries, and people who were in France. July 22, 2010 accession consists of the book “I Was There” With the Yanks on the Western Front, 1917-1919, by Cyrus Leroy Baldridge and Hilmar Robert Baukhage, 1919, with notes by Huston, a gift to his mother.

Provenance: The collection was donated by Virginia Brooks, great niece of Howard Huston, on November 4, 2003. Additional material was donated by Ms. Brooks on February 7, 2003 and on July 22, 2010.

Property Rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to this collection.

Copyrights: Copyrights to materials in this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researchers should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94-553, Title 17, U.S. Code and an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.

Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection number, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.

Biographical Sketch
Howard Riggins Huston

Howard Riggins Huston born 29 Jul 1892 in Sweet Springs, Saline, Missouri to Theodore F. and Elizabeth (Barzilla) Huston. In 1900, the family was living and farming in Township 157, McHenry County, North Dakota. Spouse: Dorothy Marguerite Gordon. In 1910, the family was living and farming in Saline, North Dakota. Huston graduates from the University of North Dakota with a liberal arts degree prior to enlisting in the Army.

Huston enlisted at East Grand Forks, Minn., on May 15, 1917 and was sent to Duluth, Minn. He served in General Service Infantry, to Aug. 24, 1917 and was discharged at Officers Training Camp, Fort Snelling, Minn. on Nov. 26, 1917, as a Sergeant, to accept commission as 2nd Lieutenant, Nov. 27, 1917. He was assigned to 40th Infantry, to Jan. 15, 1918; 303rd Cavalry, to April 1, 1918; 59th Infantry, to discharge. Promoted: 1st Lieutenant, Nov. 2, 1918; overseas from May 5, 1918, to discharge; wounded, slightly, July 18, 1918. Engagements: Offensives: Aisne-Marne; St. Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne. Defensive Sectors: Toulon (Lorraine); Flanders. Discharged at London, England, on Sept. 10, 1919, as a 1st Lieutenant. Cited in General Orders No. 34, Headquarters, 4th Division, AEF, Germany, June 28, 1919: "He courageously and skillfully led his platoon in their first engagement with the enemy, and although dangerously wounded, he insisted upon remaining with his company until it became necessary for him to be ordered to a dressing station." Cited in General Orders No. 30, Headquarters, 8th Infantry Brigade, AEF, Nov. 25, 1918. "This officer in charge of Brigade Relay Company, established and maintained communication by runners between Brigade P. C. and the P. C.'s of the attack in Battalions. The nature of this work necessitated frequent exposure to danger. In all such instances there was no thought of personal safety, only an intense eagerness to keep this means of liaison intact." He was based in London, England from Sept 1919 to October 1920 and Geneva Switzerland from October 1920 to March 2, 1922.

Huston married Dorothy Marguerite Gordon. They had a child overseas, Virginia Harmony Huston, on July 2, 1921 at Chalet Peter, Version, Switzerland. On March 5, 1920, according to his passport he was living in Deering, North Dakota and was going to Great Britain, France, Italy and Switzerland to work on League of Nations work. Another passport issued March 2, 1922 shows him working as a member of the Secretariat of the League of Nations, visiting England, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Holland, Austria and Germany.

In 1940, Howard and his wife, Dorothy, daughters Virginia, Felicity Sue (also born in Switzerland), Eleanor Gardar (his mother-in-law) and Mary Jay Kern (his niece), were living in Eastchester, Westchester, New York, where he was working as an executive for a chemical company. When he registered for WWII on April 27, 1942, he was living in Bronxville, New York working for American Cyanamid Corporation. He died 8 Jun 1955, in Brockton, Massachusetts and is buried in Snow Cemetery in Truro, Massachusetts.

In 1900, Mildred Elizabeth Huston was 11 and lived in Township 157, McHenry, North Dakota with her parents. She married Robert Edward Lee Miller (b. 29 Dec 1878 Saline County, Missouri d. 27 Dec 1974 in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas) on 27 Nov 1907 in Saline, McHenry County, North Dakota (license was filed 03 Dec 1907). In 1910 she was living with Robert in Saline, McHenry County, North Dakota with their daughter Dorothy Elizabeth Miller Mueller (b. 1909 Saline, McHenry County, North Dakota d. 01 Dec 1998) working on a general farm. They had another daughter Mildred L. (b. 1911 d. Saline, McHenry County, North Dakota) In 1920, they were still living and farming in Saline, McHenry County, North Dakota with a son Lee Huston Miller (b. 17 Oct 1913 Saline, McHenry County, North Dakota d. 27 Dec 1974 El Paso, El Paso County, Texas). In 1930, Mildred and Robert were still living and farming in Saline, McHenry County, North Dakota and Robert’s mother M Elizabeth Miller (b. 1854 Missouri d. ?) was living with them. In 1940, Mildred and Robert were still living and farming in Saline, McHenry County, North Dakota. Robert’s mother was still living with them at the age of 86 as a widow. The children had left and married and lived elsewhere.

Mildred Huston Miller died on 17 Mar 1966 at the age of 77 in the Hotel Dieu Hospital in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas of Cerebral Hemorhage after living with her son Lee Huston Miller in Texas for one year. She was buried in Restlawn Memorial Park in El Paso Texas on 21 Mar 1966. She was still married to Robert Lee Miller.

Source: Ancestry.com

INVENTORY

Box 1:
1 Correspondence, 1917-1918
2 "America's Last Frontier" speech by Huston, University of ND, representing the State of ND in the inter-state oratorical contest held in York, NE, April 6, 1917
3 “I Was There” With the Yanks on the Western Front, 1917-1919,” by Cyrus Leroy Baldridge and Hilmar Robert Baukhage, copyright 1919
4 News clippings, ca 1917-1955
5 Photographs and post cards, ca 1917-1918